National Geographic Kids Almanac 2010

Reviewed by: Wayne Walker Who says that learning about geography, history, and science can't be enjoyable? The new, first-ever National Geographic Kids Almanac 2010, with over 500 stunning photographs and more than 300 pages, is the kind of book that I could have sat down with when I was a student and spent many happy hours leafing through--and for that matter still can! This backpack-sized reference book with full-color design and an easy-to-read format is filled with amazing facts arranged in nine chapters: Your World 2010; Awesome Adventure; Amazing Animals; Culture Connection; Geography Rocks (what else would you expect from National Geographic?), with lists of information about every nation on Earth and each of the US States; Going Green; History Happens; Wonders of Nature; and Super Science. In addition to fun crafts, games, jokes, and recipes, the almanac will help children get ready for school with a section entitled "Homework Help" at the end of each chapter explaining topics like how to write an essay, create a report, read a map, give a speech, and do a science project. Curious kids will find this book both interesting and useful.

I love this book, even though my son is only 3 years old, and cannot take full advantage of all the information it has to offer, it is a good practice for him in terms of getting to know new animals and recognize the ones that he already knows, it has a little bit of everything, I even read it myself, great purchase!!!

I bought this book for my niece & was reluctant to give it to her when I saw how readable it was & full of interesting bits of trivia. She likes it too. I enjoyed it so much I bought 3 more copies to give as gifts during the holidays. Teachers should find this a wonderful addition to the classroom. Love this book!

Excellent! Chock full of facts, stunning photos, games, jokes (even recipes) and so much more. For kids that gobble up trivia, this is a treasure trove of fun. Color coded sections make this an easy almanac to navigate and quickly turn to your most favorite facts.

I was very impressed with this almanac! Probably the first thing that struck me was how many gorgeous, colorful photographs were between the pages of this book -- something like 500 pictures. I shouldn't have been surprised since this is a National Geographic publication, but I have to say that these pictures are stunning. The graphics are also bright and eye-catching and definitely complement the information. Another benefit of this book is how it is formatted. The book is divided into nine different sections and the top of the pages are color-coded to match the topics. This makes it very easy to flip through the pages and find whatever you are looking for. Each page is also filled with colorful pictures and features consisting of different sizes and types of fonts. You can't help but be drawn into each page. What really impressed me the most was how much information is contained in this book. It really does cover a tremendous amount of topics; however, I didn't find it overwhelming in the slightest (even for children) The information is written in very clear and concise manner -- perfect for kids. I also love all the different ways that information is presented in this book. A child cannot possibly get bored when there are crafts, games, jokes, stories, weblistings and even homework help. It really is a very fun book that is also chock full of interesting facts! I'm pretty sure that most kids aren't going to sit down and read this entire book straight through (although I admit that I probably would have as a child.) More likely, they will skim through it and read whatever catches their eye or they might even use it as a reference book. I really appreciated that this book is softcover so it's easy to tote around or throw into a backpack for bus-ride reading.